If you are moving from Florida to North Texas, insurance is usually one of the first things you ask us about, and for good reason. Florida has the most expensive homeowners insurance market in the country. Published 2026 analyses put the Florida average premium between about $8,471 a year (insurance.com) and $10,240 a year (MoneyGeek), driven by hurricane exposure, litigation costs, and expensive reinsurance. Texas sits in the expensive group too, with 2026 analyses placing the state average between about $4,582 a year (insurance.com) and $6,854 a year (MoneyGeek), well above the national average. Insurance is only one line of the cost picture. It sits right next to how Texas property taxes, MUD and PID fees stack up on every North Texas home.
So the honest answer is this: most Florida movers will pay less here, but Texas is not a cheap insurance state. And in North Texas, the price is driven by something Florida buyers rarely think about until their first spring storm.
Texas Risks: Hail, Wind, and Roofs
Florida insurance is priced around hurricanes. Texas insurance is priced around hail. Texas recorded more than twice as many hail events as any other state in both 2023 and 2024, and Collin County sits squarely in the hail corridor. Add tornadoes, straight line wind, and the occasional ice storm, and roofs take the beating here the way they do in Florida, just from a different sky.
That changes what your policy actually covers and what it costs you at claim time. The deductible that matters most in Texas is not the flat dollar deductible you remember from Florida. It is the wind and hail deductible, and in Texas it is almost always written as a percentage of your dwelling coverage, typically 1 percent to 5 percent. In 2026, 2 percent has become the dominant standard across most of the state, with 3 percent common in high risk hail markets, according to analysis from United Policyholders, a national consumer insurance nonprofit. On a $400,000 home, a 2 percent deductible is $8,000 out of your pocket before insurance pays a dollar on a hail claim. On a $600,000 home, it is $12,000. Budget the deductible like a real cost, because it is one, the same way you budget for the 3 costs buyers do not expect on a Dallas new construction home.
There is one more Texas rule worth knowing before you shop. Under Texas law, your roofing contractor cannot waive, absorb, or pay your deductible for you. Any roofer who offers you a free roof by eating the deductible is asking you to take part in insurance fraud. Budget the deductible like a real cost, because it is one.
How Roof Age and Deductibles Change Your Quote
The age of the roof is the single biggest lever on a Texas quote, and this surprises Florida buyers who are used to hurricane straps and wind mitigation credits carrying the weight. In Texas, many carriers shift older roofs from replacement cost coverage to actual cash value coverage, commonly somewhere between 10 and 15 years of roof age. Replacement cost pays what a new roof costs today. Actual cash value pays what your old roof is worth after depreciation. After 15 years of depreciation, an actual cash value payout on an asphalt roof can be thousands less than the replacement bill, and your percentage deductible comes off first.
One protection Texas buyers do have: on September 29, 2026, the Texas Department of Insurance clarified that an insurer cannot drop your policy or refuse to renew it solely because the roof is old. Age alone is not a legal basis for nonrenewal. That ruling does not change the math above. Getting to keep your policy is not the same as getting a full payout on an old roof.
When you tour homes, ask for the roof age early, not at inspection. A 14 year old roof on an otherwise perfect house can mean a meaningfully higher premium, a higher wind and hail deductible, or an actual cash value roof schedule. None of that is a dealbreaker. All of it is information you want before you are under contract.
What the Averages Mean on a Real Move
Run the two state averages against each other and the gap is real money. The insurance.com pair puts Florida about $3,900 a year above Texas. The MoneyGeek pair puts the gap at about $3,400 a year. That is the honest headline: the average Florida mover pays thousands less per year here.
But no family pays the state average. You pay the quote on one address, and in North Texas that quote is decided by the two levers above: the age of the roof and the size of the wind and hail deductible. A Texas premium that comes in under the Florida bill can still cost you more in a bad hail year if it carries a 2 percent deductible on a $400,000 home. That is $8,000 out of your pocket on one claim, before the lower premium saves you anything.
So shop the address, not the average. The state numbers tell you the direction. The roof and the deductible tell you the truth.
How to Shop a Policy Before You Close
Get your insurance quotes during the option period on your Texas contract, not after it ends. The option period is your window to walk away for any reason, and insurance is one of the costs that can change your math. Put it on the same checklist as the tax rate and any PID fees on the home, because all three follow you for as long as you own the house. Have the property address, the year built, and the roof age ready, and get at least two quotes so you are comparing coverage terms, not just premiums.
Ask every agent these questions: what is the wind and hail deductible, stated as a percentage and in dollars on this home; is the roof covered at replacement cost or actual cash value, and does that change with roof age; what discounts apply for impact resistant roofing, monitored alarms, or bundling with auto. Read the answers, not just the price.
Never assume Texas will be cheaper just because Florida was brutal. For many movers it is. For a hail corridor home with an older roof, it can surprise you. The buyers who do best are the ones who price the insurance before they fall in love with the house.
Book a call with us before you start touring and we will walk through the full cost picture on any home you are considering, insurance included.
Arlicia Jones, NMLS 1550570, Elite Lending Solutions, Inc., Company NMLS 1829246
Luke Jones, REALTOR, eXp Realty, Texas license #793146. Texas Real Estate Commission Information About Brokerage Services (IABS)
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